Dave Miller

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

This is a short very clear article to help us all think better about real solutions to traffic problems. And no, you don’t have to give up your car. https://t.co/fJWSr7Igxc

[Deedy @deedydas]

All languages covey information at a similar rate when spoken (39bits/s).

Languages that are spoken faster have less information density per syllable!

One of the coolest results in linguistics.

[William Lindeke @BillLindeke]

I wish I'd written this wonderful story by Greta Kaul on suburbs getting rid of onerous and carbon-producing parking minimums requirements from their zoning code. This should be the first step cities take to combat climate change. https://t.co/WbimRPqmvs

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

Maybe the turning cars went a bit slower? I’d like to video of how cars turn when the crosswalk/bike path is occupied.

[Edward @EdwardOrde]

Watching this intersection has confirmed to me that flush mountable corner aprons are worthless. Didn't see a single car going around it, most seemed to think they should cut to the inside of it.

[William Lindeke @BillLindeke]

"It would make Rochester and Mayo a more competitive workplace. Physicians want access to a large metro area and don’t want to have to drive there, and a fast rail connection between the two would do just that." https://t.co/mUEcPAPcv5

[léa ❦ @ellaskindvness]

SHUT UPPPPP https://t.co/LSorpF1zrX

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

Good read!

[Charles Marohn @clmarohn]

The City Engineers Association of Minnesota did not need to weigh in on a parking reform bill being debated at the legislature. Yet, they did.

Their arguments show why engineers should not be consulted on public policy or be allowed to make value judgements. 🧵

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

This is weird. Not sure if it’s regulatory constraint, developer choice, or some concern that buyers won’t buy a twin home / townhome with windows on three sides.

[Steve Mouzon @stevemouzon]

I see both. Lennar is doing the most affordable version of their stock-in-trade: single-family homes on the greenfield edge condemned to auto domination. Does it raise or lower your spirits? Spreadsheet Brain says “raise.” Our senses say “lower.”

[Brent Toderian @BrentToderian]

That last Tweet is significant. I don’t say it lightly, and it requires more explanation. Please read, share, and consider this.

To be clear, if you come to Vancouver you’ll still find a pretty darn good inner city protected bike infrastructure network, that has emphasized “all ages and abilities” (aka “Triple A”) design choices…at least pretty good by North American standards (yes, that’s an important clarifier).

But as other cities (many actually inspired by Vancouver) have made increasingly faster progress, Vancouver has lost its way. The last council stalled bike infrastructure progress, and this current Council is now surrendering hard-fought ground.

I’ve debated with myself how much to publicly call this out, because Vancouver IS an inspiration for many other cities, and saying this loudly could have a deflating effect when it comes to progress well beyond our borders (“Why should WE build good bike infrastructure when a city like Vancouver is backing off on it?”).

Luckily, cities like Montreal, Victoria and others have been taking over as North American inspirations. And Vancouver IS still a physical inspiration based on what’s been built in the past. People come to our city often, ride the protected infrastructure we have, and complement it. It’s not obvious to them what’s been going on politically lately.

I decided after today’s Council decision regarding the Beach Avenue bike infrastructure, following other recent high profile bike-related decisions, that we need a serious conversation about the implications of this backtracking for the successful positioning and continued progress of our city.

Let’s be really clear again — this isn’t about “cyclists vs motorists.” That kind of lazy narrative is a red flag for uninformed, populist politics, and shoddy click-bait media.

Smart cities understand that safe, comfortable bike infrastructure is a huge asset for the success of a city in just about every way you can count, and many ways you can’t.

We helped teach that fact to North American cities. I remember how other cities took notice several elections ago when both the centre-left AND centre-right political mayoral candidates in Vancouver were both big champions of better bike infrastructure. They both knew it was a smart investment.

Polls and surveys have all shown that bike infrastructure has considerable popular public support in Vancouver. The opposition is noisy, and gets disproportionate media attention, but it’s relatively small.

But in recent elections, we let bike infrastructure become a partisan wedge issue. And some big political donors, apparently, have make it a key ideological issue affecting who they give their money to.

This isn’t a small, or technical, issue for our city. It’s a big, badly-needed strategic conversation about Vancouver’s positioning for either success or failure moving forward, relative to many of the most important stated goals and values that we regularly claim we have.

I work across Canada and all over the world, and I can state unequivocally that smart, successful cities know that great bike infrastructure is a remarkably valuable asset for economic competitiveness; a critical element of sustainable city-building; and a proven support for affordability, quality of life, equity and much lower public costs.

Vancouver’s leadership used to understand all this, and actually used to teach it to other cities. Now, apparently, we might have to remind ourselves of it again.

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

This!

[Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen]

Samuel Alito is 74. Clarence Thomas is 75. Roberts and Sotomayor are 69. The next president may very well nominate replacements for multiple (if not all!) of these justices. If Trump is president, the Supreme Court is gone for the rest of our lifetimes. That means an all-powerful executive that can commit criminal acts with impunity, a nationwide abortion ban, no restrictions on firearms, a complete dissolution of the Voting Rights Act, election vigilanteism, legalized voter suppression, and so much more.

What we saw today at SCOTUS was a preview; it will be exponentially worse if Trump wins in November.

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

Wow I had not seen that graphic before or that Yonah looked at it! Case study of how not to do this. Small city/region challenges?

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

Good to know. Cross Spokane off my list of places to live.

[@spokanerising.com on Bluesky @spokanerising]

It’s bad, folks.

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

Similar list of bicycle commuter share by zip codes. Great stuff.

[@civicgrit.bsky.social @civic_grit]

I put together a follow-up list with zip codes with the highest bicycle commute share: https://t.co/UK3iYGLkcL

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

Very cool info about walkable places. Be sure to look at other thread with bikeable - I’ll repost that also.

[@civicgrit.bsky.social @civic_grit]

Everyone is always talking about "most walkable cities". Let's get more granular.

Here's a list of the 11 zip codes in the US with over 10k workers and the highest share of commuters walking to work (according to 2022 US ACS data):

#11 Chicago's 60654 with 45.6% walking to work

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

@ramiholzman @civic_grit @ramiholzman That would be super if you could find similar for UK. I’m also looking for German postal codes if anyone knows where to get that data, I could analyze and share it. I’ll be spending longer periods in both countries soon.

[David Zipper @DavidZipper]

As of today, any Coloradan can walk into a bike shop and instantly get $450 off an e-bike. No race to get a voucher, no income limits, no waiting to claim a tax credit.

It's the first such program in the nation.

https://t.co/ldYBNyHbtF

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

@toddnickel @StrongTowns Funny! Practical traffic calming in Vancouver. Of course, I do not condone violence. Usually.

[Christian  @ChrizKu]

@toddnickel How2
https://t.co/1zWAXZA52R

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

Awesome idea. The crossing guard flags just are not working well enough. This will get motorists attention!

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

This. The U.S. is mostly building places that you would not want to live in and certainly not raise a family in. They are modern cheaply built but still expensive tenements! States and municipalities need to change codes to disallow this and make better alternatives available.

[Dave Miller @mnsegler]

@StrongTowns I suspect the number of widely spaced cars is unrealistically low. What would actually rush hour look like for however many people live or work in those towers? Not to mention where to park them all.